Why don’t some things burn?

Some fish can deliver electric shocks that are four times more powerful than the electricity in your plug sockets at home. Crowdscience listener Mouhammed in Cameroon was stunned by this, so he charged us with finding out how they do it. Presenter Caroline Steel heads to Bayreuth ...  Show more

CrowdScience listener Matt wants to know why he's warm blooded. He started thinking about this when he was watching some ants during the recent heatwave in Europe and wondered why their blood didn't boil. What are the pros and cons of being warm-blooded like us or cold-blooded re ...  Show more

Do people really just go up in flames? Do grannies really flare up like roman candles in their rockers and is there anything in science that explains why a middle-aged bachelor might burn down to his sneakers without warning? In this episode, Julie and Robert enter the dubious ...

Fire!Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Ed Byrne, forensic chemist Niamh Nic Daeid and biologist Adam Rutherford, as they explore the science of fire and how it has impacted the evolution of life on earth. They also look at whether controlling fire is a uniquely huma ...  Show more

It has been said that you can't start a fire without a spark, but as Hannah and Dara are about to discover, that's not true!Welcome to the fiery phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, when something can ignite all on its own: no matches, no sparks, no external flame. It happens wh ...  Show more

#056

Seriously. What is fire? This week Melissa and Jam hop out of the frying pan. What are those warm orange wisps? We all sort of know what fire is but also, do we? It's hot, it can be good, it can be bad. But why does it look like that? And what real ...